Handheld weapons such as handguns typically include conventional sights including a front sight and a U-shaped rear sight, with the front sight being centered in the U-shaped rear sight during aiming of the weapon at a target. Although the conventional sights are adequate for aiming the weapon during conditions of high ambient light, such as on sunny days, they typically are inadequate for aiming during low light conditions, such as dusk or dawn, or at night.
Although there have been numerous attempts to improve the sighting of weapons in low lighting conditions, such as the use of radioluminous light sources on portions of the sights, the light sources emit at a constant intensity, which can lead to either an inadequate amount of light in high ambient light conditions or to an overpowering amount of light in low ambient light conditions.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a sighting system for a handheld weapon that would automatically adjust the sights to compensate for the ambient light conditions, thereby providing the proper amount of light to the sights regardless of the time of day or the prevailing lighting conditions. Furthermore, it would be advantageous to provide a sighting system that would activate instantaneously upon withdrawal from a holster, scabbard, or similar weapon storage device, and instantaneously deactivate when returned to the storage device. Such a device, when operated by battery power, would conserve power as the sighting device would be deactivated or powered down until removed from the storage device.